John Daido Loori, Roshi
Zen Mountain Monastery, 9/11/2005
The True Dharma Eye, Case #55
There is a music in us, an inner voice which is audible to our teachers, but not always to us. We can’t express this music using other’s words or other’s ways of seeing things. Yet the expression of it is the vital thing; it’s not enough to embody it — we have to be able to communicate that truth. Daido Roshi encourages us to ‘let our bones dance’, to respond, and to sing with others in such a way that it creates a voice that doesn’t belong to anyone; our collective voice. That is true expression, true intimacy; that is truth; which in turn leads to true compassion that we can activate in the world.
John Daido Loori, Roshi
Zen Mountain Monastery, 11/28/2004
Koans of the Way of Reality
Religious traditions all over the world have always had to deal with the question of “the source.” If God created the world, then who, or what created God? Is there anything outside of God, outside the universe? It is this mystery that lies at the heart of all religious searching, and it is one that cannot be described in words or images. In taking up this question, Daido Roshi quotes Master Jingqing’s answer to a monk: “One drop is just black ink. Two drops, and a dragon comes to life.”
John Daido Loori, Roshi
Zen Mountain Monastery, 9/27/2003
Koans of the Way of Reality, Case #109
How do we perceive the truth? If we look for it with our eyes and our ears, we’ll miss it. In this talk, Daido Roshi takes up the intuitive nature of expression and understanding, and reminds us, once again, that it’s “all in the subtleties.”
John Daido Loori, Roshi
Zen Mountain Monastery, 6/26/1998
True Dharma Eye, Case #12
Zen points us toward a direct realization of our true nature that surpasses any ideas we might have. In this talk Daido Roshi looks at the path of Zen training, teaching that at every point along the way, our practice is deeply personal and includes everything.
John Daido Loori, Roshi
Zen Mountain Monastery, 10/5/1995
The Gateless Gate, Case #9
The teachings tell us we’re already perfect and complete. But why don’t we feel that way? Our sense of separation from our perfection is the root of our suffering. The aim of practice is to make this truth alive and real in our lives right now.
Bear Gokan Bonebakker, Senior Monastic and Dharma Holder
Zen Mountain Monastery, New York, Sunday 01/29/2023
From Zen Master Hakuin: “Song of Zazen”
At the conclusion to our New Year’s sesshin, Mn. Gokan explores “Song of Zazen,” an 18th century poem by Master Hakuin Ekaku. This text has served as an inspirational touchstone for generations of practitioners and is even chanted at some Zen temples as part of their daily liturgy. “The gateway to freedom,” Hakuin promises, “is zazen samadhi.” Gokan encourages us to develop “enthusiasm for meeting the rigors of practice” with a “joyful effort.” He summarizes that effort—and Hakuin’s intent—with the following prescription: “Don’t grasp, don’t crave, don’t push away, relax the mind, stop fighting with yourself; be gentle.”
Robert Rakusan Ricci, Senior Monastic
Zen Mountain Monastery, New York, Thursday 01/26/2023
Acting with reverence and devotion, acting with faith, with a willingness to be open to whatever arises in our experience… Is this all prayer? Inspired by a Ken McLeod essay, “Where the Thinking Stops”, and drawing on a song of Leonard Cohen, “Lady Midnight”, and the teachings of the mystics, Rakusan encourages us to keep going above and beyond ourselves and see how and where prayer fills our lives.
Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi
Zen Mountain Monastery, New York, Wednesday 01/25/2023
From The Awakening of Faith in the Mahayana (traditionally attributed to Asvaghosa)
What does Faith mean and what does it encompass in our Buddhist tradition? In this 3-part series, based on this text, Shugen Roshi talks about the Aspiration to Awakening Through Faith and it’s many aspects which are the essentials of Buddhist teachings and practices.
Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi
Zen Mountain Monastery, New York, Sunday 01/22/2023
On this auspicious day, Shugen Roshi officiated the shukke tokudo ceremony for Jeffrey Kien Martin. Tokudo marks the formal taking of monastic vows and, in our tradition, expresses a lifetime commitment to the Monastery. Kien was given the monastic name Jogo, the meaning of which Shugen Roshi beautifully explains near the end of the ceremony. In short, it can be interpreted as “Steady Strength.”
Degna Chikei Levister, MRO Senior Lay Student
Zen Center of New York City, Fire Lotus Temple, Sunday 01/15/2023
This talk is part of a special Sunday morning program commemorating the life and teachings of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at Fire Lotus Temple and Zen Mountain Monastery.
Senior student Degna Chikei Levister draws from Dr. King’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” and gives voice to his compassionate, courageous words and actions. Chikei connects Dr. King’s teachings to Buddhist teachings, expanding on his lived message to “attack forces of evil, not persons doing evil” when addressing racism and other forms of oppression.
Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi
Zen Mountain Monastery, New York, Sunday 01/08/2023
From Master Dogen’s 300 Koan Shobogenzo (The True Dharma Eye), Case 105 – “The Hands and Eyes of Great Compassion”
In this New Year’s season of reflections and resolutions, Shugen Roshi encourages us to turn our attention toward the great Bodhisattva of compassion, Avalokiteshvara, and to look incisively into how they operate within our own lives.
Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei
Zen Center of New York City, Fire Lotus Temple, Sunday 01/08/2023
Hojin Sensei speaks about the simple and profound practice of breathing. The breath, she shares, brings us into the body and into the present, gradually unifying body and mind.
Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi
Zen Mountain Monastery, New York, Saturday, New Year’s Eve 12/31/2022
Teisho during the Rohatsu Sesshin Fusatsu Ceremony
Shugen Roshi reflects on the vitality of actualized vows in the context of the Paramitas, and urges us to recognize and nurture the basic quality of kindness in our intentions and actions.
Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei
Zen Center of New York City, Fire Lotus Temple, Saturday, New Year’s Eve 12/31/2022
Dharma Talk during the New Year’s Eve Fusatsu Ceremony
Hojin Sensei welcomes in the new year with a Fusatsu at Fire Lotus Temple. She invokes the power of vows and the importance of choosing them well.
Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi
Zen Mountain Monastery, New York, Friday 12/30/2022
From the Book of Serenity, Case 67 – The Flower Ornament Scripture’s “Wisdom”
Shugen Roshi talks about the Scriptures as the Body of Wisdom. That’s not simply a metaphor; that’s the wisdom of direct experience over the ages. Each and every one of us are intimately included in that living body. We make it whole.
